Re: Famous horror movie title changes - WHY??

Most of the time it's an ego thing; the distributor dislikes the title so he comes up with one he thinks is better. Or one he thinks will appeal more to the foreign audience he's distributing to. Other times it's a matter of copyright. It's been going on since the dawn of film and likely won't change any time soon.

Some examples:

Zombie (1979). Aka Zombi 2, to cash in on the success of Dawn of the Dead which was released in Italy under the title Zombi. Also known as Zombie Flesh Eaters in the UK.

The Prowler. Known in some countries as "Rosemary's Killer."

Haute Tension (2003). Known in the states as High Tension. Known in parts of Europe as Switchblade Romance.

Re: Famous horror movie title changes - WHY??

LoudLon wrote:

Most of the time it's an ego thing; the distributor dislikes the title so he comes up with one he thinks is better. Or one he thinks will appeal more to the foreign audience he's distributing to. Other times it's a matter of copyright. It's been going on since the dawn of film and likely won't change any time soon.

Some examples:

Zombie (1979). Aka Zombi 2, to cash in on the success of Dawn of the Dead which was released in Italy under the title Zombi. Also known as Zombie Flesh Eaters in the UK.

The Prowler. Known in some countries as "Rosemary's Killer."

Haute Tension (2003). Known in the states as High Tension. Known in parts of Europe as Switchblade Romance.

Re: Famous horror movie title changes - WHY??

Master Horror wrote:

LoudLon wrote:

Most of the time it's an ego thing; the distributor dislikes the title so he comes up with one he thinks is better. Or one he thinks will appeal more to the foreign audience he's distributing to. Other times it's a matter of copyright. It's been going on since the dawn of film and likely won't change any time soon.

Some examples:

Zombie (1979). Aka Zombi 2, to cash in on the success of Dawn of the Dead which was released in Italy under the title Zombi. Also known as Zombie Flesh Eaters in the UK.

The Prowler. Known in some countries as "Rosemary's Killer."

Haute Tension (2003). Known in the states as High Tension. Known in parts of Europe as Switchblade Romance.

Evil Dead (1981). Known in some parts of Europe as Dance of the Devil.

Bay of Blood (1973). Aka Carnage. Aka Twitch of the Death Nerve.

Shock (1977). Aka Beyond the Door 2.

Gates of Hell (1980). Aka City of the Living Dead.

Deep Red (1975). Aka Profondo Rosso. Aka The Hatchet Murders.

Tenebrae (1982). Aka Tenebre. Aka Unsane.

Cemetery Man (1994). Aka Dellamorte, Dellamore.

Dr. Butcher, MD (1980). Aka Zombie Holocaust.

Cannibal Ferox (1981). Aka Make Them Die Slowly.

Emmanuelle and the Last Cannibals (1984), aka Trap Them and Kill Them.

Death Dream (1972), aka The Night Andy Came Home, aka Dead of Night

Dead Alive (1992). Aka Braindead.

I could go on and on...

Thanks for that!

There were a few of the renamed titles I didn't think were too bad. I like City of the Living Dead.

Terry Levene of Aquarius releasing was responsible for the renaming, distribution and marketing of Italian exploitation films that would make William Castle proud, like Zombie Holocaust - retitled Doctor Butcher MD and Cannibal Ferox - retitled Make Them Die Slowly, for America's Grindhouse theatres I believe. There was a cool extra on Terry Levene (an interview) on Arrow Video's release of The Beyond aka Seven Doors of Death I watched and I believe he also contributes to the doc From Romero To Rome on Arrow's Zombie Flesh Eaters release.

So in the case of Italian exploitation the renaming was done as part of the overall advertising of the film, in the vein of previous Grindhouse/exploitation cinema history.

Re: Famous horror movie title changes - WHY??

Another reason was that a lot of this happened back in the 70s and 80s, with various countries having various hissy fits about horror films (a la the British Video Nasties). So movies would get recut and renamed so appease the various countries. Also as Lon touched on, different distributors wanted an "exclusive" (HAH!) on these films.

Twitch of the Death Nerve / A Bay of Blood / Bloodbath / Bloodbath: Bay of Blood / Bloodbath: Bay of Death / Carnage / Ecology of a Crime / Before the Fact: Ecology of a Crime / Last House on the Left, Part 2 / Reazione a Catena / Antefatto / Ecologia del Delitto (1971/1973)